Holley EFI systems

I think the BIG bag of popcorn might come in handy for this conversation   

RESTOR mod comes to mind. The hot rod guys are dropping some new crate engines in the old classics and getting big bucks at car auctions for them. Guys who have made a comfortable living, now retired and enjoy taking their new rides to the weekend cruise in’s. Very popular in the small southern towns and in my opinion gets a lot of spectators. Can’t be bad for business.

Did the Holley Sniper EFI on my 1986 Martinique and very happy so far (15 hours). The only issue is the 160 degrees water temp for EFI engines. My boat has 140 stat so I am waiting on my new thermostat to come via USPS. Install was very easy and performance has been better than expected (maybe my old carb was in need of rebuild/replace). Also, able to run cheap gas now so saving about 0.50 cents per gallon.

The kit was $1299.00 vs new carb at $735. BTW did I say awesome idle/full/idle performance.

Not a large difference at this point. 39-gallon tank so about 1/2 - 2/3 on hard day of wakeboarding and tubing. I know it is better just don't have a good way to measure. The big measurement so far is regular gas with ethanol vs non-eth. Today 1.79 vs 2.39 so 23 dollars per fill up and I use 2+ tanks a week. So let's say $50 per week over 16 weeks it will pay for itself this summer alone. Also, starts awesome and better throttle response and I have not had to get the screwdriver out yet

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XND1dinxLaW5dXFE7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9yFrad8TTYzB8Rsc7

The O2 sensor plate was the hardest part. I found one on ebay that was close so I drilled out the holes a little larger and it worked.

Took a 3/8 drill to the holes and needed a treated rod for the rear bolts as there was not enough room for the extra inch of bolt.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OXYGEN-SENSOR-PLATE-VOLVO-PENTA-1993-older-OUT-DRIVE-V-6-V-8-CHEVY/322489476520

Not really octane in my case (low HP) but ethanol. In my experience ethanol is not a friend of carburetors. My boat is run regularly so the issues for me are winter sit and possible water in the fuel. I did experience inconsistent idles on ethanol vs non-ethanol before I make the switch to TBI.

Here is a recent article.https://ridermagazine.com/2020/03/26/carburetors-and-ethanol/

https://www.onallcylinders.com/2014/10/29/ethanol-effect-understanding-ethanol-can-protect-classic-ride/

In my experience the fram cartridge filter system seems to do more harm than good.
Seems when that gets taken out of the system and replaced with something competent most anything can work well.

Nope

I've had problems due to ethanol. Mostly when it started being available, but even recently when running boats that had not been used for along time. Real easy to determine by looking at the gas you pour out of the tank.

I only use non ethanol fuel in my boats and small 2 cycle engines. No problems at all. Maybe it’s the higher humidity levels in the south? In any case folks down here have nothing but problems if they use e 10 in their boats. Life is too short to have to fool with fuel problems. By the way my Subaru and Acura run great on E 10.

I don't have a problem with carbs as I have a quadrajet in my 1972 C20 and it runs fine but I only run premium in that truck (more HP). But the whole TBI process as made me rethink my truck as well. Maybe a fuel issue I don't know.

Here is what I do know:

Before TBI - ran ok had rough idle (kept screwdriver handy) and hesitation on starts (5% of the time) and a long period of no-wake would be hell on the other side.

After TBI - runs great (but it is new so time will tell). I have idled for very long periods now because it just runs better at idle (lots of future house shopping for my wife).

About $500 difference in price between a new carb and TBI system. The replacement took about 8 hours (fuel lines 7 TBI 1)

Not trying to bash carb was just providing feedback on the Holley EFI I installed in my boat. I would guess for 85% of boat owners TBI is better as there are not many wrench turners in the ski/wakeboard boat owners I know (maybe need to change my circle).[

1972 C20

Putting modern tech like EFI into an old carbureted boat in my mind is kinda like a resto mod. We have gotten so use to the modern technology in or daily driven vehicles but when it comes to our boats or old cars all of use cling to what it’s suppose to be not what it could be, it’s like going to a new car dealer and asking for a new car with mechanical drum brakes all around, no a/c and crank windows, it doesn’t exist anymore an it shouldn’t have to in the marine world. I my self fully support the change to EFI cause it’s just better in every way possible

FFImarine wrote: Putting modern tech like EFI into an old carbureted boat in my mind is kinda like a resto mod. We have gotten so use to the modern technology in or daily driven vehicles but when it comes to our boats or old cars all of use cling to what it’s suppose to be not what it could be, it’s like going to a new car dealer and asking for a new car with mechanical drum brakes all around, no a/c and crank windows, it doesn’t exist anymore an it shouldn’t have to in the marine world. I my self fully support the change to EFI cause it’s just better in every way possible

First i apologize for lack of punctuations and spelling. Im using my phone to post.

They both have their pros and cons, the issues arrising from ethanol in carbs can easily be snubbed with some preventative measures like not leaving fuel sit for long. Draining bowls and tanks over winter etc. Additives is another one people swear by but i have yet to see any of them make a lick of difference in my experience.

Which holley efi are you installing? They have many systems available.
Im curious how you plan to deal with fuel delivery and running an O2. I think they use high pressure in the tbi units.

The O2 seems to be the fail point on many of these kits installed into boats since none of the bolt on systems have the ability to run in open loop. In order to do that you need to invest in the more expensive controlers by someone like haltec or motech, where you would tune it using an O2 but then you can lock it and remove the O2 after mapping is done.
Sounds like a fun project, i plan to eventually efi mine. I feel it would help lower my blood pressure a little when i let others drive

Interesting, so does it allow you to run it off your map in open loop as a full time option? Because I spoke with edelbrock, holley, and fitech about their systems, and all 3 told me i could not set the map to run open loop all the time. They pretty much only run open loop during WOT. and everything between there and idle, is based off O2 feedback. Noone mentioned anything about engine temps though.

How long have you been running the sniper? Overall happy with it? Prices are getting more and more reasonable now.

Darrell, have you accumulated more running time on your EFI conversion?  More details on pro's / con's and performance impact?  thx.